ADEQUACY of NASO.AN DATA to DESCRIBE AREAL and TEMPORAL VARIABILITY SAN JUAN RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN UPSTREAM from SHIPROCK, NEWMEX
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ADEQUACY Of NASO.AN DATA TO DESCRIBE AREAL AND TEMPORAL VARIABILITY Of WATER QUALITY Of THE SAN JUAN RIVER DRAINAGE BASIN UPSTREAM FROM SHIPROCK, NEWMEXICO By Carole L. Goetz and Cynthia G. Abeyta U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Water-Resources Investigations Report 85-4043 Albuquerque, New Mexico 1987 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DONALD PAUL HODEL, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director For additional information Copies of this report can write to: be purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Water Resources Division Books and Open-File Reports Section Pinetree Office Park Federal Center 4501 Indian School Rd. NE, Suite 200 Box 25425 Albuquerque, New Mexico 87110 Denver, Colorado 80225 CONTENTS Page Abstract ............................................................. 1 Introduction ......................................................... 2 Description of the study area ........................................ 3 Population ...................................................... 3 Water use ....................................................... 3 Irrigated cropland .............................................. 3 Reservoirs ...................................................... 7 Mineral production .............................................. 7 Geology ......................................................... 7 Data used in this report ............................................. 9 Spatial variability of water quality ................................. 13 Water-quality classification of streams ......................... 14 Variability of concentrations or properties of selected water-quality constituents .................................... 29 Variability of loads of selected water-quality constituents ..... 35 Box-and-whisker plots ........................................... 50 Temporal variability of water quality ................................ 62 Seasonal Kendall test for trend magnitude ....................... 62 Time-series plots ............................................... 66 Adequacy of NASQAN data to represent water quality throughout the basin .......................................................... 77 Need for future study ................................................ 84 Summary of results ................................................... 85 Selected references .................................................. 89 111 FIGURES Page Figure 1. Map showing location of study area ........................ 4 2. Graph showing population of study area .................... 5 3. Graph showing irrigated-cropland acreage in study area .... 5 4. Map showing location of irrigated agriculture, coal-mine and power-generation facilities, and metals mining ...... 6 5. Generalized geologic map 6. Map showing location o£ gaging stations and water-quality sampling sites .......................................... 12 7. Map showing predominant ions at selected gaging stations, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 .................... 26 8-14. Maps showing variability of median: 8. Specific conductance, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ................................. 31 9. Dissolved-sodium concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ................................. 32 10. Dissolved-sulfate concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ................................. 33 11. Dissolved-iron concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ................................. 34 12. Dissolved-manganese concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ................................. 36 13. Dissolved-orthophosphate phosphorus concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............... 37 14. Dissolved-radium-226 concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ................................. 38 IV FIGURES - Continued Page Figures 15-22. Maps showing the variability of the mean annual: 15. Product of specific conductance and streamflow, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 .......... 42 16. Product of specific conductance and streamflow per square mile of drainage area, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ..................... 43 17. Dissolved-sodium load, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 44 18. Dissolved-sodium load per square mile of drainage area, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 .......................................... 45 19. Dissolved-sulfate load, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 46 20. Dissolved-sulfate load per square mile of drainage area, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 .......................................... 47 21. Dissolved-radium-226 load, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 48 22. Dissolved-radium-226 load per square mile of drainage area, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 .......................................... 49 23-32. Graphs showing box-and-whisker plot of: 23. Streamflow data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 52 24. Dissolved-iron data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 53 25. Suspended-sediment-concentration data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 .......... 54 26. Dissolved-radium-226 data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 55 27. Specific-conductance data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 56 28. pH data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ... 57 FIGURES - Continued Page Figures 23-32. Graphs showing box-and-whisker plot of: - Concluded 29. Dissolved-orthophosphate phosphorus data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 .......... 58 30. Dissolved-sodium data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 59 31. Dissolved-sulfate data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 60 32. Dissolved-manganese data, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981 ............................ 61 33-43. Graphs showing time-series plots of: 33. pH and suspended-sediment concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at Vallecito Creek near Bayfield, Colorado (station 09352900) ............................ 67 34. Suspended-sediment concentration and specific conductance, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at San Juan River at Hammond Bridge near Bloomfield, New Mexico (station 09357100) ..................................... 67 35. Specific conductance, pH, dissolved- orthophosphate phosphorus concentration, and dissolved-sodium concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at Animas River at Farmington, New Mexico (station 09364500) ..... 68 v, 36. Dissolved-sulfate, dissolved-iron, dissolved- manganese, and suspended-sediment concentrations, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at Animas River at Farmington, New Mexico (station 09364500) ..... 69 37. Dissolved-sulfate concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at La Plata River at Colorado-New Mexico State line (station 09366500) ..................................... 70 FIGURES - Concluded Page Figures 33-43. Graphs showing time-series plots of: - Concluded 38. Specific conductance, pH, and dissolved-sodium, dissolved-sulfate, and dissolved-iron concentrations, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at Shumway Arroyo near Waterflow, New Mexico (station 09367561) ...... 71 39. Specific conductance and dissolved-sodium and dissolved-sulfate concentrations, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at Chaco River near Waterflow, New Mexico (station 09367950) ...... 72 40. Specific conductance, pH, and dissolved- orthophosphate phosphorus and dissolved- sodium concentrations, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at San Juan River at Shiprock, New Mexico (station 09368000) ....... 73 41. Dissolved-sulfate, dissolved-iron, dissolved- manganese, and suspended-sediment concentrations, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at San Juan River at Shiprock, New Mexico (station 09368000) ....... 74 42.--Specific conductance, pH, and dissolved-sodium concentration, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at San Juan River intake to Morgan Lake, New Mexico (station FC1) ...................... 75 43.--Specific conductance and dissolved-sodium and dissolved-sulfate concentrations, October 1, 1973 - September 30, 1981, at Morgan Lake, New Mexico (station FC3) ......... 76 44. Map showing trends in water-quality parameters at selected U.S. Geological Survey stations and ability of the NASQAN stations to represent water quality at upstream stations ....................... 79 TABLES Table 1. Streamflow and water-quality stations used in this report ................................................... 10 2. Summary values for streamflow data in the drainage basin upstream from the San Juan River at Shiprock, New Mexico ............................................... 15 vii TABLES - Continued Page Table 3. Summary values for specific-conductance data in the drainage basin upstream from the San Juan River at Shiprock, New Mexico ..................................... 16 4. Summary values for pH data in the drainage basin upstream from the San Juan River at Shiprock, New Mexico .......... 18 5. Summary values for dissolved-orthophosphate phosphorus data in the drainage basin upstream from the San Juan River at Shiprock, New Mexico ............................ 19 6. Summary values for dissolved-sodium data in the drainage basin upstream from the San Juan River at Shiprock, New Mexico ............................................... 20 7. Summary values for dissolved-sulfate data in the drainage basin upstream from